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Daniel Somers' suicide letter
genkaku
Northampton, Mass. U.S.A. Veteran
Daniel Somers, 30, was a combat veteran who committed suicide on June 10, 2013. The letter he left behind has allegedly gone viral on the Internet. Twenty-two veterans commit suicide every day. I think Somers' thoughts are, at a minimum, worth considering.
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I 100% agree!
Ive said this before on here and ill say it again, 'death' is the ultimate 'freedom' of man!
(In my opinion)
I personally would never commit suicide though because i believe whilst im already here, i may aswell experience it.. But i know i will never be free from suffering until death and I are ready to talk!
Do your part to help end suffering for sentient beings, by emailing your representatives in Congress to demand that vets suffering from psychiatric illnesses and brain injuries get the help they need. There's no excuse for this callous, willful, systematic and institutionalized neglect of people whose only "crime" was to follow orders and serve their government.
Exerpt from D. Somers' letter:
...the same government has turned around and abandoned me. They offer no help, and actively block the pursuit of gaining outside help via their corrupt agents at the DEA. Any blame rests with them.
Beyond that, there are the host of physical illnesses that have struck me down again and again, for which they also offer no help. There might be some progress by now if they had not spent nearly twenty years denying the illness that I and so many others were exposed to. Further complicating matters is the repeated and severe brain injuries to which I was subjected, which they also seem to be expending no effort into understanding. What is known is that each of these should have been cause enough for immediate medical attention, which was not rendered.
Lastly, the DEA enters the picture again as they have now managed to create such a culture of fear in the medical community that doctors are too scared to even take the necessary steps to control the symptoms. All under the guise of a completely manufactured “overprescribing epidemic,” which stands in stark relief to all of the legitimate research, which shows the opposite to be true. Perhaps, with the right medication at the right doses, I could have bought a couple of decent years, but even that is too much to ask from a regime built upon the idea that suffering is noble and relief is just for the weak.
And there’s a huge accusation in his words. You can’t put your soldiers through this kind of traumatic experience and you certainly can’t abandon them afterwards. And that’s what the letter suggests is happening.
I find it hard to accept that nothing can be done for people like Daniel Somers. I’m not saying I have the cure; just that I find it hard to accept that there appears to be none.
I like to think Buddhist practice including meditation is practically the cure for everything; but I really have no idea.
What is the role of the DEA in this? I think marijuana can help people with PTSD. Has that got to do with it?
(This is not "general banter" btw; "banter" translates for me as something lighthearted, and this is a serious subject)
Now I wouldn't call what the VA does for him or other vets as "Top Notch" medicine or psychiatry.... but they DO offer a couple of different methods of treatment for the PTSD- medications after extensive evaluation, and psychological counseling - both individual and group. Hubs has been on meds and involved in group therapy for more than 3.5 years now. (should I mention how it took 30! yrs to get to that point with the VA? Well OK, that's another story).
However, here's the problem with VA care.... Vets need to go to the large, regional VA hospitals for all service connected medical and psyche care, unless there is a VA clinic closer. And clinics are a rare find.
This is problematic for people like us, in NJ, whose only regional VA medical center is a 2 hour drive one way.... but imagine if you live in a larger state, where the nearest VA hospital could be 4, or even 6 hours away.
Lucky for us, the VA opened a small clinic just 15 miles from our house several yrs ago that my husband can go to for the routine (simple) check-ups, med adjustments, and yes, thankfully, for his PTSD group and counseling.
But when it comes time for anything more than that, like MRIs, Xrays, surgery, and any other type of test or scan, we make the 2 hr one way trip to the most depressing, crowded, underfunded, over-used, grubby-looking VA hospital you can imagine. He HATES going there!
So it's not always the case that they don't offer treatment or help for PTSD; it's a matter of not having easy access TO their offered care.
What they need to do is allow Vets to go to private doctors & shrinks, and local hospitals in their own home towns and pay for it (as long as it's service connected) .... or else build many more larger, modern, VA hospitals to accommodate vets in more areas! And we know THAT'S not going to happen.
The VA has recently approved medicinal marijuana for the treatment of PTSD in states where MM is legal.
However, here's the catch- THEY won't prescribe it themselves to vets until the FEDS make it (MM) legal across the nation, and they won't PAY for a vet to go to a regular doctor who can or will prescribe it.
So although they acknowledge that MM is a viable and decent alternative to harsher chemical drugs for treatment of PTSD, (and other disorders) they do nothing to make it accessible to the vet that can use it - even in a state with legal MM programs, like NJ.
Oh yeah, then, sometimes, it's been reported that once a vet starts using MM to treat his/her disabilities, pain, etc, the VA starts denying them regular pain meds and other medications.... you know, kind of like a punishment for seeking MM for relief.
Once again, look to the right, sucker punched from the left...
There is a body in the U.K. which is responsible for overseeing the treatments used in the British National Health Service. It is called N.I.C.E. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence.
In order for any treatment of any kind to be prescribed by UK medics it has to be approved by NICE.
Now what needs emphasising in discussions with those who like Americans, have no State Health Service is that there is no bias towards or against any given treatment..NICE's approval is entirely geared towards effectiveness set off against cost.
NICE is directly funded by the taxpayer. No one gains financially by its giving or withholding approval.
NICE examined the use of cannabis derived substances in the treatment of various conditions including PTSS, and its conclusion was that the negatives outweighed the positives..that it was for a substantial number of sufferers not a safe option. It discovered from large studies in Scandanavian countries that cannabis was associated with a substantial rise in mental health issues that were separate from the initial presenting symptoms.
In other words it was causing at least as many problems as it solved.
Evidence that is usually ignored by advocates of the medical use of cannabis.
Indeed. Maybe I should have said as rational as anyone.
I think some of the initial reasons to have VA hospitals -- being able to treat certain types of wounds as a specialty (for example) -- was logical. But that was in a far different era.
Labeling the author of the note "dellusional" doesnt helping anything. The man's suffering, and his family's willingness to share this suffering, does help. It helps me think of my own family and where the root of so much of our pain and suffering comes from, and it brings tears to my eyes. Wars last for many generations... they even effect people who werent even born yet at the time of the fighting.
And thats why i can't be scared into thinking war is necessary or effecive. Because its fucking not.
Explains much of what we see in regards to PTSD and it's rise in soldiers since Vietnam.
We have manipulated our soldiers with training to kill a greater percentage of guys and gals that wear different shirts than us, this training is way different than what occurred in past wars. The result is a tremendous amount of psychological trauma. If one asks a normal rational human being to do dreadful things, what does one expect?
All the best,
Todd
there are no winners in the end.
war= death, destruction, budget deficit n PTSD.